Through It All
by celticfighter
Summary: A tryout for WWE's developmental territory: the kickoff to a new life. Delilah will deal with sweat, blood, tears; all of this, as she tries to make a name for herself, while her older brothers are already two rising stars, and never forget her family.
1. Three Stars

_When brothers agree, no fortress is so strong as their common life. _  
><strong><em>- Antisthenes<em>**

_2006._

"Shut the hell up!" she talked on her mobile phone, as she looked herself from head to toe in the bathroom mirror. "You dickheads promised you'd have been here today, and you're not!" there were three other females in the same locker room; all of them were getting their outfits ready and fixing themselves up. One of them, in a relatively tight tank top of a dark emerald colour and matching shorts, with long blonde hair in a high pony tail behind her head, got closer to her; she waved at the girl still on the phone, who held her finger up, meaning that she'd have been done in a minute.

"If I get this contract, you better take me out celebrating at your expense." she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Got to go. Tell Jay he's more of an idiot than you are. Yeah...thanks. Will call you right after." the short haired brunette ended the call; sending a smile to the girl who had just joined her, she held her hand out to her. "Sorry, my big brothers make me lose my nerves."

"No problem at all," the blonde said, "I'm Jen." the girl with short hair got a good impression out of her; she seemed to be quite solar and easy going.

"Delilah." she replied, grinning back. Jen eyed her up for a couple of seconds; her ring attire was made up of a cropped top with the Southern flag roughly designed on it, and a pair of denim shorts that arrived past her mid thighs. At first sight, she noticed a small tattoo right on the neck under her right ear; three little stars, a bigger one, a tiny one and one that was of a size between them. The pair of hazel eyes looking directly at her conveyed that she was a sincere person; or at least, that was what she got.

"So it's you!" Jen said, "I'm going to be your opponent in the tryout match." Delilah raised an eyebrow, but her features extended in a surprised expression.

"You're Colt 45 then!" the brunette said, her Delaware accent making itself a bit more heard, "God, I heard a lot about you!" Jen laughed, as her cheeks turned slightly red.

"Really?" she asked, "Well, they told me that I should watch out for you, because you're one of the toughest girls here today," she got closer and lowered her voice, "And probably the only one to fear." Delilah bit her lower lip, trying to hide the dorky smile of pride that was appearing on her mouth. Getting the chance to obtain that tryout for Deep South Wrestling, Georgia's developmental school and territory for World Wrestling Entertainment, hadn't been a piece of cake. She was 19 years old, and had been training for two years and half now; all while finishing high school. But, also thanks to the help of the "idiot brothers" she had mentioned before, she had eventually made it.

"I'll probably nervous like I'll never be in my entire life though," Delilah said, grabbing the black bandages on the table next to her and starting to wrap it around her left wrist and hand, "So I won't be that lethal."

"Anyway," Jen said, smiling, "If you want the final pin, you got it."

"Nah, you're the good one," the Southern girl replied, "It's yours. I don't mind it."

"Sandy Fork and Boston," both the girls turned their heads to the door as soon as they heard their hometowns being called, "Promo room, and you're the last to the ring." Delilah's heart skipped a beat; the moment had arrived. She took a deep breath, Jen giving her a pat on her shoulders; it was time to leave the nice part of her personality in that locker room, and lose her head like her big brothers had always taught her to do.

_Reach for the sky, girl._

* * *

><p>"Give me that dropkick again, Sandy Fork! I loved it!" Bill DeMott's voice echoed in the almost empty arena; Delilah took a breather and waited for Jen to get up, before jumping with both of her feet and perform the dropkick on the blonde girl. But the Boston native totally didn't want to stay down and take bumps; she reacted by using all of her forces to drag herself up, as Delilah was now trying to pull her up with her hands on Jen's hair.<br>She instead charged a shoulder block to her opponent's mid-section; the Delaware girl groaned, and felt herself falling down. Jen had pulled her legs up, and had turned her body into a Boston Crab submission maneuver.

"CRAP!" Delilah had shouted; sitting front row, Tommy Dreamer chuckled.

The blonde let Delilah go, and after trying a pin that ended up in just a two count, she stood up and stomp kicked her to the mat, so she wouldn't move; Jen smirked at Dreamer and DeMott, before quickly approaching the turnbuckle and jumping on it.  
>Lying on the mat, Delilah blinked her eyes a couple of times; her fiery and reckless behaviour had to be put in the closet, for time was running out and Jen was about to end the match. The brunette admired her opponent's beautiful moonsault; she landed perfectly on her abs and - most of it all - Delilah didn't feel any pain from the hit. That only meant how much Jen cared about the execution of her moves.<p>

After the pin, Dreamer and DeMott clapped their hands for a few seconds; Jen smiled at Delilah as she helped her get up on her feet, and shaking her hand. The other man sitting next to the former WWF and WWE stars nodded a couple of times, before standing up and leaving the arena to go backstage.  
>Both Delilah and Jen took deep breaths as they stood in the squared circle. The Delaware girl looked at the arena's entrance; two guys that seemed identical, with blonde hair that reached under their ears. Bill turned around, and as he saw them he jokingly shook his head.<p>

"Majors," he said, "Leave these chicks alone."

"Come on coach," one of them, the one wearing a dark grey shirt with the yellow DSW logo on replied, "We're just curious."

"Alright," DeMott told him, "Just shut up okay?" the other blonde guy chuckled lowly; Jen and Delilah exchanged a look, wondering who these guys could have been. In that very moment, the other girls that had been having their tryout match entered the arena from backstage, joining the Boston and the Delaware native in the middle of the ring.  
>Obviously, tension was the main thing covering the entire atmosphere; trying not to have her nerves take over herself, Delilah closed her eyes for an instant, and thought of home. She smiled at the thought of the chicken houses in their property, at what her dad was doing in those moments; all until Dreamer's voice brought her back to reality.<p>

"We don't have time to feed you the 'We'll let you know how it goes' bullshit," he said, within a sigh, "So we'll be extremely direct." the group of wrestler pretty much swallowed a lump at the same time. Even the blonde guys at the door looked at each other, with a hint of terror in their eyes.

"Basically, you all did a good job," he continued, "Some of you did their fair amount of stupid things, but we saw some good stuff and potential among you."

"In other news," DeMott took the word, "Boston and Sandy Fork, Monday morning, 8 am." Jen and Delilah widened their eyes, petrified. "Thanks everyone." The former Tough Enough trainer stood up, sending a half smile to the girls, as Dreamer nodded once at them. As disappointment took over the other four girls who, more or less angrily were leaving the squared circle, Delilah let herself fall down on the mat, sitting. Jen, instead, rubbed her hands on her face, still unbelieving.

"You're allowed to freak out now!" one of the blondes shouted; the other one giggled and pushed him on his shoulders, as they both left the small arena.

"Holy shit."

* * *

><p>"Do you, like, have already a place to stay in McDonough?" Jen asked Delilah, as the two walked down the corridor, heading out the building.<p>

"Nope," she replied, passing a hand through her short hair, "I mean, I'm staying at my cousin's as soon as I find a room for myself."

"Oh," the blonde said, as she pushed a hand on the door to go outside in the fresh, early autumn air, "Since I'm looking for something too, maybe I can give you a call if I find anything." Delilah smiled at her tryout match opponent, nodding at her kindness. Since they had arrived at Jen's car, the two girls stopped on their tracks, and the blonde took her keys out of her jacket's pocket.

"See you on monday then, Boston." Jen laughed, and poked her new acquaintance on her side.

"You can bet, Sandy." the blonde replied to Delilah, who smiled and waved bye, turning around and starting to walk towards the bus stop; at least, until she felt two big hands covering her eyes and let a squeal out.

"Surprise, surprise!" the low voice, the accent; she couldn't help but turn around and punch the man behind her's higher abs. He replied with a heartfelt laugh, stopping her hits taking her wrists.

"This ain't no damn surprise!" she said, looking up at the tall guy's light brown eyes, his lips curving into a smile while another young man, totally similar to the one in front of her approached them, "Mark! I bet you agreed with Jay in making this stupid 'no we're not coming to your big league tryout match' joke, right?"

"Sorry girl," the newcomer said, shrugging his shoulders, "He's the big one, you know we got to do what he tells us!"

"Enough," the bald guy said, his hands now on the small wrestler's shoulders, "How did it go?" Jay asked, looking down at her; she took a deep breath, her eyes going from an older brother to the other one.  
>Mark furrowed his eyebrows, and shrugged his shoulders in expectation.<p>

"So?"

"I'm afraid..."

"Oh Lord."

"I'm afraid you're going to get wasted tonight," she continued, a smile slowly appearing on her mouth, "Because Bill fucking DeMott himself told me I'm in!" Both Jay and Mark widened their eyes, before bursting out in a celebratory laugh; the older brother picked her up in his arms, holding her in a bear hug.

"Holy shit," he said, "Sister Briscoe is training for the WWE!" Mark stretched his arm to ruffle her hair up, and as soon as Jay put her down, he pulled her up again on his his shoulder, and started walking.

"Put me down you..."

"No way," Mark replied, "And don't even try getting down, I'm carrying you up to the car like this!" he turned his head and left a bite on the young girl's bottom, causing her to let a little scream go and stomp her fists on her brother's back.

"MARK!"

"God, I'm gonna miss this like hell." Jay said to himself, as he looked at his younger siblings.

**A/N: I don't even know what this is. But it came to my mind that writing a story that left - at least for the majority of it, - romance aside, and focused more on wrestling, on the journey to become a real wrestler that our protagonist could have. But also about family, about what it means to have your older brothers being two bright young stars while your trying to emulate them. This is supposed to be a different story. So...well, if you'd like me to continue this, let me know. :)**

**x Chesca**


	2. Stand By Me

"Where do I leave this?" Jay asked his sister; a big box in his hands as he had entered the small kitchen, and the young woman had approached him, looking at what was written on the box.

"Gym stuff," she said, pointing at the corridor, "Bedroom."

"Yes ma'am." he replied, a little smile climbing onto his lips as he left her there; she was definitely too busy sighing and crossing things out of a list with a black marker to see his face. Jay walked up to the still undecorated bedroom; he let the box down on the bed, taking a moment to look around. His clear eyes landed on an already opened container; there were some random things like bedsheets or the plushie of a lion, but what caught his attention was a framed picture. He let his hands pick it up, and looked at it as he sat on the still bare mattress; it featured him and his younger siblings, as they were around 15 years old, in their backyard. Jay instantly chuckled at the sight of his sister - surprisingly in a striped dress, her hair reaching past her shoulders; holding a chicken by its feet, as him and Mark had pipes in their hands and were charging baseball like swings.  
>Delilah entered the room, clearing her throat; she was standing on the doorframe, arms folded on her chest covered in the black and white Oakland Raiders jersey, her jeans clad legs coming out of it.<p>

"You were pretty with long hair, y'know?" Jay said, nodding at the frame and standing up. The younger Briscoe smiled, slightly shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm not making it grow for at least a while," she replied, "Get used to it."

"I like the rooster haircut," he continued, as he placed the photograph on the empty white night table and stood up, "Don't get me wrong." Delilah shook her head at her oldest brother; as he put his tongue out at her, she held a hand up, pinching his nose.

The house's door opening caused them both to turn their eyes to the living room; a woman around her late fourties, in a pink and white plaid button up shirt and long, dark denim jeans had entered the house, her wavy blonde hair fell until under her shoulders framing her face, soft wrinkles engraving the skin near her eyes and the corners of her mouth as she talked to Mark, that followed her inside carrying what looked like three weeks worth of groceries.

"Mom..." Delilah tried to talk; the woman held a finger on her lips, directing herself towards the kitchen.

"You know it's a lost battle." Mark shrugged his shoulders and smiled, the sight of his missing teeth causing the young woman and her other brother to share a laugh. They couldn't understand why he liked  
>to go around without his partial that much, yet they couldn't help but laugh every time he opened his mouth.<p>

"I told you not to do shopping for me," Delilah said as soon as her and Jay joined their mom and brother in the now crowded kitchen, "I'd have done it with my own money this afternoon."

"Shush," the older woman said, as she took two boxes of cereals that Mark had picked out of the bags and had passed them onto her, "Use your money for the rent and the school tuition and let me do the rest."

"Are you staying over?" the wrestler woman asked, as she took the already empty bags and put them under the sink.

"I've got to head back in a few, sweetheart," the Briscoes' mom answered her, getting closer to her daughter and affectionately caressing her cheek, "Dad needs help. And he's sorry he couldn't come." Delilah smiled softly to her mother; she knew that their farm needed constant attention.

"He better come to my first match at Deep South when I have one," she replied, scratching the back of her head, "Or I'll stop talking to him, for real."

"Ah, get out of here," Mark scoffed, "He wouldn't miss it for anything in this world." Jay nodded, his hand on his sister's deltoid as he gently gripped onto her skin.

"Especially not for stupid ass chickens." Delilah chuckled, as she looked at her brother, "We won't miss it either, damnit."

"It's nice to see how you're reacting now," their mother said, her hand on her hip as she looked at her oldest son, "Thinking of how things started..."

"Mom," Jay said, rolling his eyes, "Everything went okay, so just forget about it."

"And thank God it did." Mark sighed to himself; his mother heard him, and turned her head to look at him and nod in approval.

"Anyway," the oldest sibling continued, "Want us to stay over for the night?" Delilah's eyes enlightened for an instant; it was like Jay had read her mind. She wanted to ask them to sleep in her new house with her at least for that moving in night; yet, she didn't want to appear as too much of a sissy, coward girl. Especially, not to her brothers.

"Please?" her voice came out shy, causing their mother to smile softly at her, and almost tear up as Mark left the groceries on the table, to spread his arms and engulf his sister in a hug, gently swaying for a couple of seconds.

"There's nothing wrong in being a pussy from time to time..." he told her; she laughed against his chest, but held onto his body for a couple more seconds. Jay, over Mark's shoulder, winked an eye at her; Delilah smiled widely at him. _His_ approval meant more than life to her.

* * *

><p>A noise coming from the kitchen - and a voice whispering '<em>shit!<em>' - woke her up; Delilah blinked her eyes a couple of times, in the darkness, and stretched her arms to realize that she was now alone in the almost queen size bed. Last time she had checked, Jay had fallen asleep like a rock, while Mark had settled for the couch in the other room; as she saw the dimmed light from the other side of the door, she gathered her forces and sat on the bed, standing up.

She slowly walked through the corridor, and as she stepped inside the small room, she saw a shirtless Jay leaning with his lower back against the counter, while the younger brother was sitting at rectangular table next to the wall. Needless to say, both of them had a can of Bud Ice in their hands.  
>As the oldest of the siblings saw the young woman enter the kitchen, he held his hand up and slightly waved his fingers at her; Mark, instead, turned his head and looked at her, sending an apologetic, adorable and crooked smile her way.<p>

"There you go fucker," Jay said, shaking his head, "You woke her up after I managed not to."

"Can fell on my toe man," the younger brother excused himself, "That hurt!"

"Don't worry about that boys," Delilah said, after she had sat down on the other empty stool, "I'm more worried about you two finishing up the beers that mom got _me_." Jay scoffed, as he took another gulp of alcohol.

"Jesus," he said, "There's beer for an army in there. No way you're going to finish it up on your own, you hear me?"

"Hey," Delilah replied, "I'm eventually going to make new friends. What do I give them if they come over, huh?" Mark chuckled; she had actually served him the greatest occasion to shoot back.

"As long as you don't _do_ new friends," he said, jokingly putting his tongue in the hole he had between his front teeth, "We're alright with that." the young woman rolled her eyes. Jay held a thumb up to his brother; even if he was joking, he agreed with what he had just said.

"I've only had one boyfriend in my entire life," she told him, sneakily taking the beer away from his grip and taking a gulp out of it, "And when I was thirteen, Mark."

"We know how you are around them wrestlers, girl," Jay interrupted her, "And I don't think there's many women down at Deep South right now."

"Actually," she said as she had pulled her lower lip inside her mouth, "There were these two blonde guys at my tryout -"

"Oh Lord," Mark said, squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing a hand on his face, "Running a little fast here?" Jay chuckled.

"It's not like I said that I want them both between my legs, damn."

"You wouldn't even know how to do that, miss," Jay replied, "And you better not know that for a while."

"Come on!" Delilah said, slightly stomping her fist on the table.

"Here he goes again." Mark commented, as he stood up to pick the now empty can and throw it in the trash.

"We'll talk about it when you're older." Jay pointed a finger at her, and with a single gulp he finished his Bud Light, exhaling afterwards. "Bed now." Delilah snorted, and shrugged her shoulders at Mark; he smiled, and leant closer so she could leave a small kiss on his scruffy cheek.

"Hate when you act like a sergeant, brother..." Jay got behind her, his hands on her forearms as he slightly pushed her towards the corridor.

"It's our job to be over protective," he told her, "Like you don't know it." she let herself fall back down on the bed, waiting for her oldest sibling to join her on the other side.  
>Even if at times she'd have liked to slap both of them because they were being annoying, she kept on thanking God that they had decided to keep her company for the night. It was a new beginning for her and, this time, her big brothers wouldn't have been a part of it. Almost unconsciously, she slipped her arms around Jay's right muscular arm, her head leaning on his shoulder; in the darkness, he smiled to her.<p>

"Goodnight little woman." he turned his head to press a kiss on her forehead, before shutting his eyes and drifting in a deep sleep.

**A/N: Thanks everyone! You got me quite motivated, lol. Have some questions answered, other not, new questions coming in...I hope you'll stick with my unconventional story, then. :) Check out the poster on my Tumblr!  
>Love ya'll. <strong>

**x Chesca**


	3. Learn Your Lessons

"You okay Sandy?" Bill shouted from ringside, down the apron; Delilah had just stood up on her own feet, after a series of five body slams delivered to her by one of the biggest guys in the school. Taking a breather, her actual training partner – a flipping tall, almost bald guy whose name was Drew but that everybody called 'Deacon', - looked at her with an almost worried expression in his brown eyes.

She slowly nodded to DeMott's question; the Delaware native had to admit to herself that Deacon's body slams had hit her back like a straight chair shot. Still, it was for the sake of learning how to take bumps in the perfect way, in order not to injure herself even against bigger and stronger opponents; that was why she hadn't opposed to Bill's decision to send her in with him. Actually, no one dared to say anything when he ordered something.

"Yes sir," she said, "Who's next?"

Jen, outside the ring, smiled at her; there was no way that Delilah would have told Bill DeMott that she was tired.

"Majors, who wants to get bodyslammed by Sandy Fork?" the blonde wrestlers looked up at the coach; Brett, with a smug smile on his face looked up at Brian, who let a small laugh out. "Come on, we don't have all day!"

In the moments following, the two tag team partners improvised a rush to the ring, elbowing one another to decide who'd have stepped inside the ropes with Delilah. Or better, Sandy.

"Idiots." Deacon laughed to himself as he got out the squared circle, jumping down the apron.

"I'm in." Brian had won the fight with his partner and friend, and had ended up standing with open arms in front of the young woman. She eyed him up; of course he was taller and heavier than she was, but he was surely better as a body slam partner, compared to Drew. She waited for him to pull his hair up in a loose bun, and looked at him with her hazel eyes; the cocky smile he was flashing at her was certainly set to impress.  
>But she was definitely not in the mood for his flirting.<p>

"Whenever you want, Sandy." he added, with a small smirk. Without even giving him a sign, the youngest of the Briscoe siblings slid one arm between the blonde's legs, while the other arm went on his back from behind his neck.  
>With all her strength, in a handful of seconds she was holding the Majors' member up in the air, and had subsequently slammed him down on the canvas, as hard as she could've done. Brian's features contorted for a second in pain; he wasn't expecting her to go so uneasy on him.<p>

Delilah waited for Brian to stand up, before she would perform another body slam, until she hit five of them on him.  
>Once she had finished, the blonde laid on his back for a couple of seconds; Jen, leaning with her hands against the apron, bit on her lower lip in order not to burst out in laughter. Bill had his palm on his bearded chin, a satisfied smirk on his face as he watched the Delaware native lend a hand to the half of the Majors that was in the ring.<p>

"Break the ranks kids," the trainer said, "Have a nice weekend and don't drink too much. Deacon, if you're hangover again on monday..."

"It won't happen." Drew replied, a hand on his heart as he spoke.

Brett chuckled at the tall man, before his brown eyes would settle on his tag team partner; he was getting out from the corner, using the steel steps.

"Had fun?"

"Shut your mouth." Brian shot back, as he crouched to take his towel, throwing it around his sweaty neck.  
>With the corner of his eye, he looked at Delilah, that was busy exchanging a few words with the other two girls of the class as they got ready to out the training facility.<br>If there was one thing he had learned that day, was never to underestimate his opponents.

* * *

><p>"You scared the poor guy for life," Chloe, one of the few girls at Deep South and Jen's new roommate said, "And you wonder why you don't have a boyfriend." the Bostonian chuckled as she took another sip of milkshake from her straw; Delilah rolled her eyes, her head leaning onto her palm.<p>

"Pretty boy was acting all 'oh, a cute little girl, guess I'll be a smug idiot'," she replied, "It was stronger than me. I had to give him a decent ass whoopin'."

"Speak of the devil." Jen quietly said, as she looked over Chloe's chocolate brown head; the Majors, in a casual jeans and t-shirt outfit – Brian wearing a vintage Shawn Michaels one while Brett had opted for a red and yellow Hulkamania tee, - had just entered the East Lake Diner, and were looking around for an empty table.  
>The Delaware native tried to sneak a peek of their 'classmates', hopefully without getting noticed; too bad that, in that very same moment, one of them crossed her gaze for a second. She went back to look down at her now empty plate, as Brett slapped his friend's chest with the back of his hand, before they would start walking through the restaurant, directing themselves towards where the three girls were sitting.<p>

"Stop behaving like a cavewoman."

"What..."

"Hey girls," Brett's New York accent caught their attention, as he lifted a hand and waved at them, "How's life?" Brian smiled shyly as his partner talked.

"Grand," Chloe friendly replied, "Just breaking the diet."

"Want to sit with us?" as Jen asked that, Delilah desperately hoped for them to spot a completely empty table in the furthest corner of the local.

"Wouldn't want to disturb you." Brian answered, slightly shrugging his broad shoulders.

"Of course you don't," Chloe said, as she slid on the bench in order to make place for them around the table, as Jen did the same, "Right?" in order to make Delilah agree, both of them shot her a glare.

"...Right." she finally said, getting closer to her Bostonian friend so that one of the blondes could sit next to her. Unfortunately, it was Brian.

"We never actually introduced ourselves to you two," Brett talked first, stretching his hand over the table, "I'm Matthew, but call me Brett." he shook hands with Jen and Delilah, who forced herself to appear a little nicer.

"I'm Brian," the other said, "Just Brian." the Sandy Fork girl tried not to let herself be mesmerized by the older guy's green and grey eyes and by his bright smile, and simply replied to his handshake. "And I bet your name's not Sandy, right?"

"No, it's not," Jen answered for her, as she slightly shook her head, "It's Delilah." Brian's cheeks turned a bit red; he should've supposed that 'Sandy' was Bill's nickname for her.

"It's because I'm from Sandy Fork, Delaware." Delilah finally explained. Brett pulled his lower lip in, holding a laugh.

"Are you two brothers? I mean, for real?" Jen asked.

"Nope," Brett answered, with a small smile, "But it's scary how identical we are, right?"

"From behind you're twins." Delilah stated.

"How long have you been staring at their butts to realize that?" Chloe took the ball; both the Majors smirked, while Delilah started to become redder and redder.

"It's just because people have problems in telling my brothers apart," she defended herself, "You get to find something that will make you remember which brother is which...same with them Majors."

"You have brothers?" Brian asked; he looked genuinely interested to the Delaware girls, who decided to slowly let herself admit these two weren't that bad after all.

"Oh, you said the magic words." Jen smiled at him, wiggling her eyebrows first at her friend, then at the New Yorker.

"Two big brothers," she replied, "And they're both wrestlers." actually, the Boston native was right. Whenever she talked about her brothers, her eyes were immediately enlightened by a special spark.

"Two good looking brothers," Chloe added, elbowing Jen, "At least judging from the pictures she showed me." Delilah let a small laugh out.

"Well, Mark's toothless smile is still the most adorable thing in this world to me." she continued, as both Brett and Brian looked at each other, with a big guess mark on their faces.

"How can someone without teeth have a smile that's better than the Majors'?" Brett replied; he wore a cocky smirk and extended the corner of his lips, in order to show all of his bright and perfect whites. The glare he earned from the country girl caused Brian to bring a hand to his mouth, so he wouldn't laugh and embarrass him. Jen and Chloe, instead, deliberately laughed at him.

"You don't know what you got yourself into."

"Oh it's okay," Delilah answered, shrugging, "I still bet that he'd end up having his teeth knocked out too if he were to spend three minutes in the ring with Jay."

* * *

><p>The small group was now walking back to their respective apartments; deciding that they'd have been gentlemen and that they'd have accompanied the three girls home, Delilah was now the only girl left.<p>

"Jay," Brian said, furrowing his eyebrows, "And Mark you said, right?"

"Jay is totally a girl's name." Brett added; the short haired girl lifted her hand to slap the back of his head, missing him. So, she charged a punch to his shoulder, so strong that it caused him to almost lose his balance.

"Yes sir," she finally replied to the other young man's question, as she went back to look straight ahead of her, "Why so curious?"

"Don't tell me," Brian asked, widening his eyes as the trio arrived in front of the building where Delilah's flat was, "That your brothers are the Briscoes."

"Who?" Brett whispered.

The Delaware native's hands froze in her leather jacket's pockets as she searched for her keys. That was one of the rare occasions in which someone – especially someone she'd have never expected to, - knew who Jay and Mark were. That literally took her by surprise.

"...Yeah."

"Geez," the New Yorker continued, excited, "They're a freakin' awesome tag team, didn't they win the titles in ROH like...three times already?"

"I still don't know what you're talking about." Brett interjected; this time, it was Brian to shoot a death glare at him.

"It's not my fault if you don't even know what indy wrestling is, dude," Brett sighed, nodding and admitting his ignorance, "Anyway, I'd brag about it night and day if I were you." Delilah smiled back at him; it was probably the first time that she was doing it in the most sincere way ever.

"Thankfully you're not me, then." she replied, as she pushed the key in the door's lock; as she did so, she felt herself being pulled in together with it by someone. Someone that was carrying a black plastic bag in his hand, with a definitely familiar crooked nose and that was now flashing a strangely perfect smile at her.

"There you are," he said, all while the Majors watched in silence, "Jaymin was getting worried."

"What in the blue hell are you doing here?" she threw her arms around his neck; Mark chuckled, gently rubbing his free hand on her back.

"Visiting you for the weekend," he replied, "And taking the trash out, since you haven't done it."

"Erm, Brett, Brian," she said, sliding an arm around her brother's and looking at the two blondes, "This is Mark."

"Wasn't Mark the one with no teeth?" Brett asked; Mark let a small laugh out, and brought a hand to his mouth. He took the partial out, smiling to shoe the hole he had in his upper row of teeth.

"More recognizable now?" he said; the two of them nodded, as Delilah chuckled at her brother.

"You're safe now then," Brian said, brushing a hand through his blonde locks, "See you on Monday." Brett nodded, before he'd start walking back from where they had come. The half of the Briscoes' tag team put his fake teeth back in his mouth, and raised a hand to wave at them, directing himself towards the trash bin not too far from the main door.

"Night." she replied. Brian stood there for one more instant, flashing one last smile at her, before he'd follow his partner.

Once inside the building, after the door was closed behind their backs, Delilah started going up the stairs; Mark went after her, and slid his hands in his pockets with a sigh. A smile started to climb onto his lips as he thought of something.

"Brian and Delilah, sitting in a tree..."


	4. Arms Wide Open

_On a cold December day, 1987._

Mike Pugh had a book in his hands; it was something about marketing strategies. He totally had to keep himself busy in order not to worry too much about his wife Lilian, that had just gone into labour; he had taken her to the Laurel Hospital that morning, for her time was due in a couple of days, and the doctor had given them the advice to bring her in earlier, in order not to have surprises. And thankfully, he had listened.

Looking to his right, he smiled at his older son; Jaymin, with his lively, big hazel and green eyes, had a paper on his laps, and in his little hand he was holding a pink crayon, coloring a drawing as his tongue was between the few teeth he had in his mouth. He totally was the spitting image of concentration.  
>Mark instead, the youngest of his two boys, was sitting on his other side; he was busy making his small motorcycle models have a race on the edge of his seat, making special effects with his mouth as well.<p>

"What's that you're drawing, champ?" his dad stretched a hand over his small head, gently scruffling up his hair. As if nothing had happened, the three-year-old kept on drawing.

"Me, Ma'k, mommy, you," he replied, still focused, "And new little brother." Mike let a small laugh out.

"But you don't know if you're having a little brother yet." Jay looked up, confused.

"Why?"

"Because mom could have a baby girl, kid." his son pouted, leaving the crayon down.

"I don't want a little sister."

"If mommy has a little girl, I am still the baby of the house, daddy?" Mark, his younger son, asked; his shy, high pitched voice arrived to his ear, as he poked his father's leg to capture his attention.

"Well," Mike said, sliding his hands under Mark's arms, picking him up so he'd sit on his lap, "You'll still be the little brother. But you wouldn't be the tiniest piece of our family, which you are now." the small boy widened his huge chocolate brown orbs, his mouth open to form a perfect 'o'; the man chuckled at the sight of the hole between his upper, pearly white teeth.

A couple of seconds later, the saloon-like doors not too far from them opened, causing all of them to look at it; a woman around her mid thirties, with long, dark hair tightened behind her head, had come out of it, taking her latex gloves off and smiling. She directed herself towards Mike, who gently put Mark down before standing up to confront the doctor.

"Everything went okay Mr. Pugh," she said, a drop of sweat running down her temple, "Follow me." the man took a sigh of relief, and nodded at her. "Want to come with me, baby?" she added, lending a hand to the youngest of the brothers; Mark happily raised his little arm so that the doctor could take him by the hand, and lead him to where she had come from.

"Come on Jay." the old man talked to his other son; Jaymin tiptoed to gather all his papers and colours, and put everything under his arm. Mike smiled, and gave him his hand; father and son followed the medic, going from the waiting room up to the corridor of the neonatal department.

The woman gently knocked on a half closed door on the right; as it slowly swung open, a wonderful smile of happiness climbed onto Mark's face, who left the doctor's hand to run towards the tired, but definitely radiant blonde haired woman that was lying on the bed. In her arms, was the smallest, most pink thing that the young Pugh had ever seen; he went near his mother, who looked at him with a sweet smile as he clumsily tried to sit on the bed, curious as to what she was holding.

Mike's heart skipped a beat as he saw the scene in front of him; he slowly got inside, as Jay left him, in silence, to go near his brother.  
>As soon as she saw him, Lilian's eyes were covered by a thin layer of joyful tears; his husband approached her, leaning down to slide an arm around her neck, and place a quick, but intense kiss on her lips.<p>

"You're gorgeous."

"Oh, shush." she chuckled, careful not to wake the creature wrapped in a soft towel that she had in her arms; the head of the Pugh family looked down. His breath got caught in his throat; the baby had just yawned, squeezing its eyes, before opening them wide. Huge, watery and of a colour between hazel, grey and green. "Look at _her_."

"It's a...?" Jay tried to talk; his mother nodded once, smiling at her son. Mark was still in awe; his big chocolate orbs kept staring at that so little human being. He had never seen such a small one before.

"Let me borrow her for a second." Mike whispered, causing Lilian to let a small laugh out at him; his big arms stretched out to pick his newborn daughter up, carefully bringing her up against his chest. "Hey girl. It's daddy here."

He gently rocked her for a couple of seconds, as he sat down between Mark and Jaymin; the baby held one of her arms up, her microscopic fingers brushing against her father's scruffy chin caused her to laugh heartily.

Mike laughed with her, turning his head to momentarily send a look full of love to his wife; she had already given him two beautiful sons. And now, she had given him an amazing thing such as the baby girl he was holding so dearly.

She turned her head to her left, looking at Jay; her tiny tongue appeared between her lips as she used all of her efforts to stretch her arms to reach for him. Jaymin, out of shyness and curiosity, lifted a hand up, bringing it within her reach. As her small hand gripped around his finger, the child felt something inside of him explode. He had never felt such a strong emotion before; suddenly, he felt the connection between him and the newcomer to their family. The same bond he had felt the first time he had seen Mark.

"She's cute."

"I told you." Mike replied to his son, winking an eye at him. The baby was now looking intently at the youngest of her big brothers; Mark widened a smile at her. He didn't know why, but she had suddenly started laughing, and he instantly joined her in her joy.

"And she's funny." both Lillian and her husband looked with love filled eyes at all of their children; Jay was now smiling at his brother's funny faces as he made the baby laugh, over and over again.

"Which name do I have to tattoo on my heart, this time?"


	5. Grab Your Courage

"Stereotypes! Ya'll hear 'bout stereotypes all the time, I guess."

Deacon stopped on his tracks as he walked down the corridors, and heard a definitely too familiar accent talking from behind a half closed door; he got closer to it, his big hand slightly pushing on the wooden surface to open it.

"I mean, just look at me!" the voice talked again, as his brown orbs finally caught a glimpse of who was talking right in front of a small rectangular mirror, "I bet ya'll see me as a walking redneck woman stereotype, right?" there she was; Delilah, in a Stone Cold Rattlesnake shirt, a rebel flag bandanna made into a headband around her head and was in a pair of Adidas basketball shorts. Drew watched in silence; the Delaware girl seemed all about business, and was really focused.

"And that's the point in all of this folks! This chick right here," she pointed at her chest with her thumb, as a smirk climbed onto her lips, "It's the truest chicken farmer ya'll ever meet, but…" the girl's eyes, as she was looking at the mirror, ended up noticing that she wasn't alone; her orbs crossed with Deacon's, who bursted out in a chuckle but just looked at her folding his arms on his broad chest. Total embarrassment appeared on Delilah's features, whose cheeks where now turning red as she busied herself in taking the bandanna off. "Hey D-Deacon."

"Hey," he replied, "That wasn't bad you know? Sorry for freaking you out."

"You're the freakin' deacon," she said, with a smile that was set to cover how much by surprise he had taken her, "You're all about freaking people out." the tall man had his eyes on her as she gathered her knee and elbow pads; he really meant that the beginning of her mirror promo was good, or that it could have lead to something very good. "Heading to the arena?" Drew nodded, opening the door open for her to pass between his huge presence and the doorframe.

"Had you written that down, or...?" he asked, as he followed her out of the locker room; they walked one next to the other, his massive body making her look even smaller than she already was. The Briscoe family member asymmetrically shrugged her shoulders, as the two made their way towards DSW's training facility.

"Not at all," she said, scratching the back of her head, "I just…you know, let it flow out."

"Wow," Drew chuckled, surprised, "It could actually work. I bet Bill would approve it." as the Atlanta native smiled in her way, pulling the black curtains open, she looked at him with her big hazel orbs.

"You think?" she bit on her lower lip, in thought.

"Why don't you ask the man himself?" he simply replied, jokingly pushing his fist on her shoulder, "After today's training, of course. You know he hates to get interrupted with questions that don't have shit to do with the daily lessons..." the girl let a small laugh out; Deacon's advice wasn't bad, after all.

Her eyes fixed on big Bill DeMott as soon as they entered the arena; with a pair of eyeglasses on, he was looking down at some papers. The Majors weren't too far from him; with their backs against the apron, the tag team partners were - as always, - probably telling jokes between themselves, or talking about old wrestling matches.

Jen looked at her as she went through the curtains, she lifted a hand and waved, to which the girl replied waving back; pulling her long, blonde hair up in a pony tail, the Bostonian approached her. She had a huge smile on her face, that left Delilah wondering what could have made her so happy, as she pulled her elbow pads on.

"Why that face?"

"Bill said there's a lot of cool things to talk about today," Jen told her, fidgeting, "And there's someone new joining us today." the Delaware girl's mouth formed a perfect 'o' as her friend talked; it felt almost like destiny that her trainer was in the mood for talking. The two approached him, as he was near the ring; he was orderly putting all the papers he had in his hands back on a pile, and into a collector. He took his glasses off with two of his thick fingers, and nodded his head at the ladies.

"Morning Sandy," he said, crouching to put the glasses back into their case, inside a rucksack that was at his feet. "How was Delaware this weekend?"

"Fantastic," she replied, "Leaves turning orange, chickens growing strong." Jen chuckled at her friend's response; sooner or later, she'd have asked to take her visiting her chicken farm. She was too curious about that.

"Glad to hear that." the former WCW star said. "There's a shitload to do today, get ready."

* * *

><p>"Brett," Bill asked, "Repeat what I've just said." the blonde Long Island native flicked his eyes up; he allowed himself a second to think about what their trainer had just told him a moment ago.<p>

"In three weeks we're having the first show of the season," he said, as Brian stood next to him with arms folded, "And..."

"Who are you facing?"

"Knox and Deacon." Brian replied, after raising his hand up in the hair. Bill leant forward to hit the young man's head with the rolled paper he was holding in his hand, much to everyone else's - especially Delilah's, - amusement.

"Shut up Myers, or you're getting your ass kicked by Sandy again." the Delaware brunette bit on her lower lip to suffocate the laugh coming out; she smirked at Brian as he turned his head to put his tongue out to her. "Sandy! What about you instead?"

"Erm," she blinked her eyes fast, getting back to reality, "I'm going against Cherry and...that other guy who's with her."

"Domino." Jen whispered.

"...Cherry and Domino, yep." the girl hurried herself in replying. Bill, with his hands on his hips, looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Brian asked; before DeMott would hit him again, the blonde brought his hands to his mouth.

"Damn," Delilah said to herself, "A hint?"

"Red." the trainer sighed.

"Oh," the Sandy Fork native pushed a hand on her own forehead, "Miller."

"Finally, eh?" DeMott shook his head, "Miller's going to be at ringside with you, being your redneck sidekick."

"I can't avoid him," she asked, "Right?"

"Nope," the big man said, "Get ready to stick with him for a while, sweetheart."

Heath Miller, that at the moment was in the other daily class with Dave Taylor, was a redheaded, West Virginian guy that - in Delilah's opinion, - was the exact embodiment of the Southern man stereotype. Right what she wanted to distance herself from.  
>But she realized how immediate it had been for Bill to choose him as a possible storyline companion for her; with her good old country girl persona and his proverbial Southern ways, their characters would've had the potential needed to face the couple that Domino and Cherry were. They were elegant, stylish and straight from the fabulous fifties; Delilah and Heath would have brought them back to the modern days, made of real, sincere country people.<p>

"Would you rather go blonde, wear a cheerleader outfit and be a sister to the Majors?" Bill asked again; Brett lifted his hand, a dorky smile on his face as he waved.

"I think the bare thought scares her." Brian scoffed; Delilah looked up at him, a fist raised in front of her face, menacing as she directly looked at him.

"Oh right," Bill replied, "Let's banish family storylines because there's no one but the 'boys' for her." the Delaware girl felt her cheeks blushing with embarrassment; Jen's reassuring hand on her shoulder helping in making her feel at least a bit better.

She'd have loved to shoot back a Bill. To tell him that, hell, if wearing a skirt, bleaching her hair and learning a New York accent would have meant life or death for her career, she'd have done it. Truth was, she wanted to remain true to herself; and, thankfully, her coach had sort of understood that, even if he had known her for less than two months.  
>Even if it was with someone like 'Handsome' Heath Miller, she had the chance to remain the only character she had never known. Delilah Briscoe.<p>

"Is that all?" Deacon asked, as he stood up from the ground.

"Yeah," Bill finally said, "You're with Dave this afternoon, and you have promo practicing tonight." There it was; the occasion to tell her trainer about her ideas.

Everyone picked their things up, getting ready to go, heading out to lunch; The youngest of the Briscoes told Jen to wait after her, as she took all of her courage with both of her hands and approached Bill.

"Coach," she said, her voice fighting against her natural shyness, "Got something to tell you." the older man turned on the spot, his clear eyes looking directly at her.

"If you want to complain again about Miller," he said, with a small smirk, "Don't even try."

"No, no," Delilah replied, "It's about my idea for the promo." DeMott took his glasses off, a nod of his head to get her to talk again.

"Shoot."

"You know, the stereotypes thing," she spoke again, quite surprised by the way he really seemed interested in what she wanted to tell him, "Maybe I could get on that topic."

"Work on it and show me tonight," he said, "Could be something nice to use in a promo." giving her a pat on her back, the veteran went back to getting his stuff together; with a huge smile on her face, Delilah turned on her heels and approached Jen, that was standing a few meters away from the ring, where the conversation with Bill had happened.

"So?"

"He said it could be good." Jen smiled back at her friend as they walked towards the exit.

"I want a spoiler on this promo of the year, okay?" the blonde said, Delilah replying with a small laugh.

"Sure." they pushed their hands on the long handle bar of the door; as soon as it swung open though, the two girls literally froze in the middle of the doorway, at the sight of who was on the other side.

"Hey ladies, is DeMott still there?" the young man standing in front of them asked; a black baseball cap turned backwards on his head, the sideburns coming out of it framed the solar smile that was on his lips. The 'ROH' logo t-shirt he had on completing his figure. Jen's eyes were wide open, her jaw a second away from falling down on the ground, while Delilah stood there in astonishment and surprise.

"Y-yeah," the Delaware native replied, "He's…he's here."

"Why thank you." he said, taking the cap off as a form of salute for a second. He brushed past them, but actually turned back on his tracks to look at them again, especially at Delilah. "Sorry, are you…Mark and Jay's sister?" the Sandy Fork girl grinned at him, nodding. Yeah, that was actually who she thought he was.

"Yep."

"I was sure I had seen you before." the young man stated.

"And you're…" she said; the guy nodded in response, slightly bowing down and causing Delilah to chuckle.

"Colt Cabana. In all my flesh and very little bones." the ROH star waved at them, before entering the gym. In the moments following, the Briscoe family member firmly shook Jen's shoulders, for she was still in some sort of trance.

"That was..."

"Your favourite wrestler."

"I need a drink." Jen said, as she started walking through the corridor, Delilah going after her as she bursted into a laugh.

"Jen, you're straight edge."

"Damnit!" the blonde continued, sliding a hand under her friend's arm, "You'll have one for me then?"


	6. Back To The Start

**A/N: Another chapter to get you a little bit more into Delilah's life. :) Expect a lot of these, it will make you understand a lot of things about her, and how things went as she grew up. Thanks to all those reading, and in particular thanks to moxxie23, for the umpteenth time: for the advices, and the patience. :) **

**Enjoy! **

**x Chesca**

* * *

><p><em>April, 1991.<em>

The small girl turned on her side; the soft, comforting lion plushie held tight against her body as she did so. For being April it was definitely already too hot for Delaware, and after trying for hours to fall asleep she had just forced herself to shut her eyelids, but her efforts had lasted only for a couple of hours. She slowly opened her eyes, a deep sigh coming out her lungs; the four-year-old looked around. The only thing she did when she couldn't sleep was climbing onto Jaymin's bed; her oldest brother was the one both her and Mark went to whenever they were afraid or, like in that case, when they couldn't just shut their eyes and sleep. Yet, when she let her orbs wander around their room, she couldn't spot him; she looked at Mark's bed, and surprisingly found out that his sheets were pulled down, but there was no trace of him as well.

The natural fear of being left alone started to take over her, as she hugged the lion with both of her arms; almost instantly though, she took notice of the faint, blue-ish light that was coming from downstairs, from the living room. The little Delilah jumped down her bed, and slowly walked out the bedroom; carefully making her way to the corridor – making sure that her parents' room's door was closed, - she finally started going down the stairs, her almost non-existent weight being an advantage in not making any noise.

She took a sigh of relief as she saw both of her brothers in front of the huge Philips television; Jay sitting crossed legged on the carpet, in his oversized Oakland Orioles pajama pants and white tank top, while Mark lied next to him on his belly, his head held up between his palms. Actually though, something blocked her from running to her big brothers; what they were watching, it was like nothing she had seen before.

It looked like a stadium, and maybe it was; there were a lot of people, families, kids, and all of them were clapping their hands and cheering for the guy that the camera had just set its eyes on. He looked huge, and funny above all; platinum blonde hair coming out a yellow bandanna, and a pair of absolutely weird mustache of the same colour. As this unknown stranger walked through a corridor between all the people being absolutely excited that he was there, he waved a United States flag, and he really seemed proud as he was doing it; the girl's mouth widened in a huge smile. She didn't know who that guy was, but that was the instant reaction that she had as she first saw him.

"What is this?" she had silently dragged herself closer to them; as they had heard that whisper, both the big brothers had turned their heads, finding their youngest sibling keeping her big eyes focused on the tv.

"Lily!" Jaymin talked in a low voice, being the oldest of them he should have been the one berating her, "What are you doing here?" Mark brought a finger to his lips, silently telling everyone to be quiet.

"I can't sleep," she replied, holding onto the lion, "But who is the funny guy with the yellow hair?" Jay snorted; the last thing he wanted was to lose all the fun because of his curious sister.

"If I tell you will you shut up?" the younger brother asked; Delilah nodded happily, as the two kids made some space for her so she could sit between them. "That dude there," Mark pointed at the screen, "It's Hulk Hogan, and he's one of the greatest heroes of all time." the girl's mouth opened, as she kept her eyes on the tv while her brother talked to her.

"Yeah, the Hulkster!" Jay said, excited, "He's going to kick Slaughter's butt, and he'll become the champ."

"Slaughter?" Delilah asked again; she followed Jaymin's finger pointing at a different guy not too far from Hulk Hogan. This other one was dressed as a soldier, had little or no hair, a dark moustache and a definitely unfriendly expression; he was in a corner of this square, held together by three ropes, that were red, blue and white. On his shoulder, he had something shiny, that looked like a belt.

"Sergeant Slaughter, yep," Mark told her, "He's the bad guy." the little girl had to admit to herself that the man she had seen first looked far more nice; he was energetic, just by seeing him he had brought a smile to her face, and curiosity to her heart.  
>But as Hogan and Slaughter squared off in the middle of the ring, punching each other, Delilah gasped, leaning closer to Mark; the youngest of her two brothers giggled, his arm now surrounding her small shoulders. "That's <em>wrestling<em>, Lily." with her big hazel eyes, she looked up at him, and then back at the tv; as time went by, she got even more astonished at seeing that the two men fighting were now making each other fly through the air, and then back down on the mat. It was something spectacular, incredible; and all of it got more interesting with every minute passing by.

"I like it."

"It's not for girls..." Jay commented, rolling his eyes; Delilah shot a glare at her big brother, settling her eyes on the fight once again.

"If you no let me stay here and watch with you," she whispered, "I'm telling daddy who opened the chicken house last week." both Mark and his older brother widened their eyes.

"You're not going to do it, right?" Mark turned his head at her, his chocolate brown eyes begging as he talked softly to her ear. Delilah looked down for a second, then brought a hand to her mouth so she could talk without Jay hearing her.

"Never," she said to him, "But big brother don't want me to stay..."

"Okay, okay," Jay finally sighed, "We're watching it together every time, all the time. Happy?" the little girl smiled with all her missing teeth to her bigger brother; she stood up and went to him, tiptoeing to leave a humid kiss on his cheek. With the disgust of a kid receiving a kiss from his own sister, he brushed his hand on his face, hoping to make it go away.

Yet, as he looked at her sitting between him and Mark, he had to admit that it almost made him happy how his little sister had decided to learn about that world with them; maybe, they would have really ended up watching wrestling together, forever.


	7. I Never Dreamed

"So you're leaving me a day earlier, huh?" Delilah asked in a whisper to her blonde friend, as they sat in front of the ring watching Runnels and Miller practicing submission moves under Bill's vigilant eyes.

"It's not my fault okay," the Bostonian replied, drying her forehead with her wristband, "My family's moving out, so I got to help. Aren't you going home anyway?"

"Not this week," the other wrestler answered, with a sigh as she took a handkerchief out of her pocket, "Brothers have a huge show, mom and...and..." a sneeze shook her, forcing her to blow her nose soon after.

"Bless you."

"Thanks." the Delaware native snorted, putting the small piece of soft paper away. She mentally cursed Heath for being the one to infect her with that stupid cold; if that idiot had spent a couple of days home instead of spreading his disease to her future team partner, she would have been way happier.

"What about Chloe?"

"Her family's visiting, so she can't move." the Sandy Fork native continued, her voice coming out even more nasal.

"I'm sure you'll find something to do."

"Yeah, right."

DeMott had just dismissed the class, and pretty much everybody had gotten on their feet to get ready and head home. Delilah scruffled her short hair up, before she'd smooth the DSW top down on her stomach, standing up; as she turned to look at Jen, she noticed that her friend had her attention caught by someone coming by right behind her.

"Hey," Brian's New York accent arriving up to their ears as he spoke, the Wrestlemania XX shirt falling down his broad shoulders as he moved. "You guys have a sec?"

"Sure," Jen talked for both of them, her elbow slightly pushing in her friend's side so she would pay attention, "What's up?"

"Me and Brett are giving this sort of party tonight," the blonde wrestler said, his hand passing through his locks, "Like, everyone brings something and we either watch a movie or play videogames, this kind of stuff." even Delilah had now turned to look at him. "Was wondering if you wanted to come?"

"I would if I were here tonight," Jen shrugged her shoulders, an apologetic smile on her lips, "But hey, Briscoe's not going anywhere." the smile creeping onto Brian's lips as he focused on the Delaware girl faded almost immediately, as he noticed the confused expression that had settled on her face.

"Woah, woah," the short haired girl interrupted her, furrowing her eyebrows, "Erm...God, actually she's right. Briscoe's not going anywhere, I'll just collapse on the couch because I totally don't feel like going out."

"Are you sure?" the Majors' member insisted, "I mean, your cold won't kill us. It's not like it's black death."

"Yeah Del," Jen tried to convince her,"It's not black death."

"Seriously," the Briscoe family member said, letting a cough out, "You guys have fun, I'll be okay." the Bostonian could see the disappointment on the blonde's face as Delilah explained how she didn't feel alright. He was trying to be friendly and bring them both in their group, it was just a pity how her friend tried her best to isolate herself.

"Still," he sighed, with a small smile, "If you want to drop by there's no problem with that, alright?" the brunette nodded, mirroring back his smile before another sneeze would hit her.  
>As long as the young man had gone away from them, reuniting with Brett and Domino, Jen rolled her eyes, as she dragged herself out of the gym with Delilah by her side.<p>

"What?"

"You should have gone."

"In this state? You's crazy."

"If he likes you, he's going to like you even when you're sick as fuck," the blonde girl commented, "It would have been a test."

"I don't care if he likes me," Delilah replied, sort of annoyed, "I don't like him. End of story."

"We've been here for two months only," the other continued, convinced as she went on with her reasons, "Never say never."

"I don't have time to deal with boys..."

"Will you stop being so thick headed?" as they stopped in front of the vending machines in the corridor, "I know, I'd make my life all about wrestling too, but yeah," she added, taking a dime out of her jacket and sliding into the machine's opening, "You don't need to be the first wrestling nun."

"..."

"Well," the blonde continued, with a playful smirk on her lips as she took a bite of the protein bar she had just bought, "You don't need to be the next Chyna either." Delilah laughed at her friend, shaking her head at her joke.

* * *

><p>"<em>I'm <em>_glad __to __die __for __love..._"

Nicole Kidman had just started singing from the tv in the living room, as Delilah coughed and grabbed a spoon out one of the kitchen's drawers; she could barely breathe through her stuffy nose, and she had stood up from the warmth of the couch just to eat something.  
>She didn't know when, but she had bought that ready made chicken soup, and had decided to try that one on; the young wrestler woman wasn't totally in the mood for cooking. Yet, as she dipped the spoon into the hot liquid and she tasted it, she sighed. It was nothing like her mum's, of course.<p>

Her body wrapped in one of her brothers' huge sweatshirts and a pair of yoga pants, she took the small bowl containing the soup between her hands and walked back to the dark room enlightened by the television's blue-ish glow. She let a sigh of relief as she sat down indian style, bringing the blanket to cover her legs, and finally relaxed by letting her skin be overwhelmed by the vapors coming up from the soup.  
>A small smile climbed onto her lips as her hazel eyes caught sight of Ewan McGregor's astonished face as he saw the beautiful Satine for the first time; Delilah had admitted only to a few people that the very same movie she was watching was one of the only things able to get under her thick skin, and make her melt.<p>

This time though, her peace was broken by her phone's ringtone. She totally didn't want to answer, whoever that could have been; but after a while, the annoying sound of the incoming call had become just too much to take. Delilah let the soup down on the wooden coffee table in front of the sofa, and grabbed the Motorola lying on it, still vibrating; even if she would have loved to do it, she couldn't help but smile softly at the name on the screen.

"Hola."

"_Can't __l__eave __you __alone __for __a __couple __of __days __that __you __get __sick, __huh?_" Jay's familiar drawl echoed on the phone, a chuckle coming out his mouth as he spoke.

"Shut up."

"_Oh __I __know, __no __need __to __tell __that __you're __just __home __and __brother-sick._"

"Yeah, right." she replied, as another sneeze hit her, "Hear it yourself...I feel so damn horrible, bro."

"_You __watchin' __Moulin __Rouge, __I __hear._" she momentarily widened her eyes, but smiled.

"Bingo."

"_Try __to __sleep __tonight, __don't __go __out __partyin'.__" _

"Yeah mom."

"_Need __anything? __Me __and __Mark __might __come __by __tomorrow,__we're __in __Atlanta._"

"You coming to bother me the only time I don't want you around?" as she heard Jay's snorting, she laughed. "I'm kidding, dumbass..."

"_You __better__be, __miss._"

"Bring me wrestling dvds, yourselves and get ready to cuddle your sick sister."

"_That's __gon' __make __Mark's __day._" as her brother kept on talking, the doorbell rang. Delilah raised an eyebrow, wondering who might have been at that hour. "_Hey,__you __there?_"

"Erm, yeah," she answered, after a couple of seconds, "I'll just...yeah, see you tomorrow Jay. Say hi to mom, dad and my monkey brother."

"_Will __do,_" he replied, letting a small laugh out. "_Love __ya._"

As soon as the call had ended, she had forced herself to go see who was at the door; totally dragged more by her curiosity than by anything else. She looked in the spy hole, and who she saw totally caused a whimper to come out her mouth. Brian Myers. What in the world was he doing there?

"Delilah, it's me. Brian." his voice spoke from outside, through the wooden surface.

"How did you get in the building?"

"Nice old lady at the door."

"Oh..."

"Can I get in?"

"What do you want?"

"I'm...I'm sick, I wouldn't want to infect you too."

"Come on..."

"I'm being serious!" another spontaneous cough shook her body, causing her to bring a hand to her mouth. "Ya heard that?"

"Hey, I just came to check on you." something broke inside of the tough Delaware girl as she heard him say so. He wasn't even one of those she already considered her 'friends', yet he had come by her place to see how she was doing; once again, he was totally surprising her. "Seems like you're okay, so just...good night."

"Wait," she hurried herself into opening the door, her eyes now landing on his presence, "Come..come in." Delilah looked at him, as he turned on the spot and looked at her with his clear, green eyes. His hair tightened in a pony tail behind his head, a red and black plaid shirt slightly opened over a white t-shirt, as on his forearm was lying what looked like a New York Mets' hoodie, of a dark blue colour. A corner of his mouth curved in a smile as soon as he saw her; the young woman pulled her lower lip in her mouth, and made way for the bigger man, so he could get into her apartment.

"I'd have brought you something from the party," Brian sighed, letting the hoodie down on the coffee table, "But...yeah. There wasn't much left." the girl laughed, approaching the couch and lazily letting her body fall down on it.

"I got my soup, thanks," she replied, holding up the bowl, "I'm good." as the other wrestler looked around, she suddenly noticed how the tv was still on the Moulin Rouge dvd; she almost panicked, and grabbed the remote control to change the channel into something different, the sports news being the first thing she found. Somehow, Brian noticed that; he chuckled and went sitting on the sofa, still not close to her.

"You can still watch that, y'know?"

"Actually...Yeah, I've already seen it." she lied, slightly shrugging her shoulders and drinking her soup. "Don't get too close, you wouldn't wan't to end up in my state." the New Yorker fixed his orbs on her, as she made those simple gestures that made her look more like the woman she really was, than the thick skinned, aggressive and focused wrestler she always was. She was trying to maintain her usual composure, yet, maybe because of her illness, she had let him go through one of her many barriers.

They sat in silence for a while; from time to time, as he laid with his back against the couch, Brian tried to renew the conversation, commentating on something like the next NFL games. He couldn't help himself but smile even more as she told him how her dad and her oldest brother would have killed her if they knew she was sitting in the living room with a football fan that wasn't an Oakland Raiders' fan.

At some point, Delilah had put the empty bowl on the coffee table, and had wrapped herself even more with her blanket; the Majors' member actually got worried as he noticed how her teeth were rattling.

"Fever?" he asked, as he slid closer on the couch. Lifting her eyes up at him, the young woman nodded; Brian stretched his arm, his palm leaning on her forehead. "Wow, you're burning."

"G-go home be-before you catch it t-too..." the girl tried to say, in a feeble voice. Myers, instead, scoffed and threw an arm around her shoulders, while his other hand rubbed up and down on her forearm; he was doing his best to make her feel warm, or at least he was trying. She felt too weak to react, so she just let herself be engulfed by his arms; there were no witnesses, after all.

"Any better?" he asked, his voice soft as he talked.

"S-s-slightly," she answered, "T-thanks." Brian smiled back at her, as he laid on his back again; his arm went up on the back on the couch, leaving enough space for her to lay her head on his chest. With a rather more shy expression on his face, he want back to watching tv.

"Just lay down if you want to."

Those were the last words the blonde wrestler had spoken, before he'd have turned to look at the screen again. As she kept on trying to make herself warm and fight the fever, Delilah thought a lot about what to do; cuddling up by Brian's side sounded like heaven, actually. Yet, she convinced herself that she wouldn't have done it because it was him; this was one of those nights in which she totally missed being home, because there was no doubt about the fact that she wouldn't have even asked either Jay or Mark to cuddle up with her. She'd have just done it.  
>But not with Brian; and thankfully, he had been the one to offer her his company and his friendship. Even though it felt weird, there was something inside of her that was totally appreciating what he was doing for her.<p>

Silently, and almost trying to play indifferent, Delilah let her head lean down on his chest, the rest of her body cuddled up against his side; as soon as she was adjusted next to him, the blonde took the remote in his hand, changing the channel back to the dvd one.  
>As the images of the movie she was watching as she had come in passed on the screen again, he heard the Delaware native's softened chuckle against his body.<p>

"The greatest thing..." he casually sang in a whisper, causing the girl to smile widely as she kept her hazel eyes on the movie.


End file.
